As the last line of defense around Emperor Karl-franz, the Rick Guards had always been the most elite guards of the Empire. Although they did not have the reputation and scale of the three major knight regiments in the old world, their combat power was not to be underestimated. Since the establishment of this knight regiment, they had always fought side by side with the Emperor and brought countless great victories to the Empire.
Unlike many other knight regiments, the recruits of the Rick Guards were all from the nobles of the Empire, even the children of the Kurfürst, as well as the current Rick Guards' fellow countrymen and relatives. They even allowed recruits from Brittany, Tyrell, Estalia, and the border princes to join.
The only requirement for recruiting recruits was that the recruits must be from a noble family with military merits (that is, a good family joining the army).
Wagner Schmidt was such a recruit. This guy, who was not more than 24 years old, came from Nur and served the Bernardino family, who owned the Elector of Brescia for generations. His father, Baron Alberto Schmidt, was an engineering master at the Nur Firearms Academy. He relied on his ancestors to get the opportunity to learn as a recruit of the Rick Guards.
Wagner was young, with brown hair and a strong face. As if he was afraid that people would look down on him because of his young age, Wagner deliberately grew a little beard to make people feel that he was more mature.
The young Wagner looked at the recruits around him.
Rudolf Lichtenstein, the eldest son of the Duke Lichtenstein family, came from the Rick Territory.
Lehman Bachmann, the eldest son of the Count Bachmann family, came from the Rick Territory.
Baron Theodrickson, the eldest grandson of the Nord King, came from the Nord Territory.
Stefan Elkan, came from the Ivy Territory, was the son of the Grand Duke of Ivy Territory and the trusted general of the Elector of Tuscany, Umberto Corleone, Count Leitendorf.
These people were the most conspicuous because their clothes and armor were too gorgeous. They were all wearing the highest quality silk and linen clothes. The Dwarven enchanted mithril plate armor was inlaid with gold and jewels. Their bodies were colorful, and there were several beautiful colorful feathers on their helmets. Just by looking at this set of clothes, one could tell their status and identity.
The young Wagner felt a lot of pressure. His family was a little famous in Nur and had a certain amount of influence in the Nur court. However, when he came to Brunswick as a recruit of the Rick Guards, he realized how noble the Rick Guards were.
"Hey, Wagner, why are you in a daze?" At this time, a young recruit next to him said, "Go in quickly. I don't want to leave a bad impression on Sir Helberg on the first day."
His name was Laurents, and he came from Tara Beheim, one of the four major cities of the Empire. Along the way, Wagner had the most to talk to him.
The recruits quickly formed a small group. The Rick Guards had the most recruits, and they were the first to form a group. The wealthy southerners of the Empire formed a group, and the northerners of the Empire formed a group. Wagner naturally joined the southern group of the Empire.
"He's here." Wagner whispered, "It's said that Count Laing came from Nord, but he became the champion of the Lady of the Lake?"
"Hey, lower your voice, brother," Laurents said in a low voice. He pointed at Baron Theodrickson, who was not far in front of the two. This great noble from Nord obviously had an attitude of disgust towards Laing. "He doesn't like to hear Sir Laing's name."
"I see." Wagner expressed his understanding. No one liked to be in the limelight. Baron Theodrickson was young and famous, and he had many achievements in the war with the barbarians. However, he was always shrouded in Laing's shadow.
The castle of the Rick Guards' headquarters was located in the southeast corner of Brunswick. This fortress had two floors. The outer castle wall was thirty meters high, and the inner castle wall was fifty meters high. Iron crosses, skulls, and laurel crowns were hung on the wall. Seeing that Marshal Rick Helberg had returned with the Rick Guards, the city gate opened wide and let everyone in.
Wagner observed the castle for a while and spat out a string of numbers, "100."
"What?" Laurents didn't understand.
"A hundred people. A hundred well-trained soldiers can defend this castle for a very long time," Wagner said with narrowed eyes.
"Probably." Laurents didn't comment. He only reminded, "Stand up straight, Wagner."
In the hall of the Rick Guards' castle.
"Quiet, recruits!" Marshal Rick Helberg shouted angrily at the recruits, "Listen to me!"
"Yes! Sir Helberg! "The new recruits all stood still and listened to Helberg's lecture.
"Everyone, I know that you come from many places in the old world. I also know that you each have a long family tree. Many of your family trees can be traced back to the time when Charlemagne founded the Empire," Helberg said in a rough voice.
Rudolph and Lehman subconsciously shrunk their necks.
"Perhaps there are also many people whose fathers or ancestors fought side by side with His Excellency Ludwig during the great Holy War."
Theodrickson and Stefan shook their heads uneasily.
"Or perhaps, some people are just here to receive training and guidance, and don't really want to become a Rick Guard."
This time, it was Wagner's turn to smile bitterly.
"Well, anyway, you all have a glorious family history, great ancestors, or rich families with a lot of land and manors. Perhaps five years ago, none of you knew what Helberg was … It sounds like a new fruit pie developed by the halfling chef of Mutt?" Helberg continued with a serious tone.
The thirty or so recruits burst into laughter, but Helberg didn't care. He just stared and continued, "But now, I am Marshal Rick. I don't care how much influence your family has in the Empire's court, how many gold marks you have in the treasury, or how many achievements your ancestors had in the past, none of that counts to me!"
"Your family sent you to me, so I have the responsibility to teach you well. In my opinion, some of you are too weak, some are too stupid, and some … are too flirtatious. I'm talking about you, Steiner. I can smell the perfume on your body from dozens of people away!" Marshal Rick stared at a recruit standing in the corner.
Steiner von Becafen, from the Ostmark Alliance, heard Helberg's scolding and lowered his head in shame. The young man was not convinced, but he knew that if he was expelled by Marshal Rick because of this, his family would regard him as a great disgrace.
Fortunately, Helberg didn't dwell on it. "Okay, recruits, let's begin!"
"Today's first lesson is the history of the Rick Guards."
…
"The Rick Guards were established by the next emperor after His Majesty Ludwig the Savior, Leopold Franz Frey Friedrich."
In the evening, in the dining room of the Royal Empire Hotel, Laing sat behind the long table and said to Suria, Silvia, Veronica, and Teresa, who were sitting opposite him, "After His Majesty Leopold took office, he was troubled by the fact that the Griffin Knights didn't listen to him. Because of the privilege given by His Majesty Ludwig, His Majesty Leopold couldn't easily mobilize the Griffin Knights, so he established the Rick Guards."
"This move was believed to be very effective. As the private army of the Franz family, the Rick Guards had always been the most trusted guards and the most elite force in the emperor's hands. The nobles provided excellent soldiers, and the royal armory provided the best equipment. After serving in the Rick Guards, the nobles had a more promising career. Obviously, the emperor was more willing to promote the nobles who had served in the Rick Guards to important positions."
"It feels like a selection. It's a bit like the nobles in the kingdom would send their children to the capital to serve the Knight King as knight-errant so that they could have a chance to become a knight of the kingdom," said Suria.
Before they could say anything, a weird voice came from the side, "Oh, I was wondering who it was. It's Nord's son, the little champion of the women in the lake. You're hugging the leg of the pointy-eared man, and now you're the emperor's distinguished guest?"
Laing didn't get angry after hearing the voice. On the contrary, he stood up and showed his respect, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Becafen."
"Humph!" The tall man with a long goatee was wearing expensive silk clothes. He looked less than 30 years old, and there were many scars on his face. His tall and big hooked nose was a bit scary. He looked at Laing and the women at the table with disdain, and finally reached out his hand, "You should learn to be grateful, Laing Macado. I hate the creatures of Chaos and the green-skinned orcs much more than I hate you."
"Ha, you don't have to do this, Mr. Hertwig." Laing sneered and reached out his hand, "You can send your champion to fight with me. In this dark age, we can talk with our fists."
The man was Wolfram Hertwig, the speaker of the parliament of the Ostmark Alliance and the Elector of Becafen.
He was the first Kurfürst to arrive.
The politics of the Ostmark Alliance was formed by the parliament. Five hundred years ago, a double-tailed comet fell from the sky and completely destroyed the capital of the Ostmark Alliance, Mordheim. All the nobles and Kurfürst families in Mordheim died in the impact of the comet. The remaining nobles formed the Ostmark Alliance and set the capital at Becafen. Since then, the position of Kurfürst in the Ostmark Province was decided by the nobles through election.
The most famous story of this Kurfürst was called "Hertwig's Folly".
Hertwig, the noble Kurfürst of Becafen, was only a teenager when he became a Kurfürst. During the Battle of the Black Road, the army of the Ostmark Province was attacked by the Orcs. Hertwig, who was young and arrogant, refused to let the commander of the Knights of Eternal Light provide tactical guidance. The knights chose to retreat to the castle in anger, leaving Hertwig and his army to fight the Orcs without the support of the knights.
In the end, Hertwig and his army still won, but at the cost of more than ten thousand casualties. This incident made the Kurfürst a laughingstock in the Empire. The Ostmark Province had to put down its pride for many years and ask for reinforcements from other Empire provinces.
However, Hertwig learned from this incident and grew up, gradually becoming an excellent general. More importantly, this Kurfürst believed that "the justice of the nobles is not the justice of the commoners". Therefore, he was more inclined to protect the interests of the commoners between the nobles and the commoners. This earned him the love and respect of the peasants and freedmen in the province. In recent years, the commoners of Ostmark lived a good life. The people here loved life, raising horses, and drinking vodka. They firmly believed that a united Human Alliance and Empire was stronger than a divided Empire.
"None of my champions can fight as well as you, or I would have sent out my champions to show you!" Wolfram Hertwig said rudely.
The Kurfürst and Laing shook hands, and Hertwig purposely used a little more strength.
Laing quickly turned around and squeezed the Kurfürst's bones, making cracking noises.
"Ugh ~ humph!" The Kurfürst was in pain. He struggled to break free, and then left angrily with his followers.
"This Kurfürst doesn't seem to like you." After Laing sat down, Teresa said in a low voice, "He seems to dislike you very much. It's only because you are a human being and a hero of human beings that he reluctantly came to greet you."
"I can't be liked by everyone. Some people will like you, and some people will hate you." Laing shook his head with a bitter smile, "Except for the Gold Mark, no one can be liked by everyone."
Suria and Veronica couldn't help but laugh. Teresa's previous worries were also swept away. The sorceress couldn't help but laugh, "Then you have to try to win the support of most people."
"I can only try my best. Even if I killed Red-eyed Egil, it's still impossible to make all the provinces of the Empire like me." Seeing Hertwig and his followers sit down far away and signal for the waiter to serve the food, Laing frowned and said, "Not all the provinces of the Empire have to face the threat of the Northern Barbarians. For example, the provinces in the east have more headaches than the Orcs in their territory and the Green Skins in the south. Tegris's proposal won't move them … unless the High Elves are willing to help them deal with the threat from their territory."
"Mr. Tegris only brought 500 troops …" Suria wanted to say something, but another group of people came in from the door of the restaurant.
This group of people was Rick's Praetorian Guard recruits that they saw today. These nobles entered the capital and naturally, many of them stayed in the Royal Hotel.
At this time, Laing and the others had finished eating. He nodded at the recruits in a friendly manner and left with them.
"It's Laing Macado, the human hero who killed Red-eyed Egil," Laurent said. "He came to the capital of the Empire with the High Elves. It's said that he plans to form an alliance with the Empire to fight against Chaos."
"Laing Macado … That's not what I care about." Wagner shook his head, "Let's eat first. The Empire's parliament will be held in a few days. It's up to the emperor to agree to the alliance."
"Right, Grand Duke Wesson, Elector Giani will also be here to participate in the Empire's parliament." Seeing that Wagner was not interested, Laurents changed the topic. "Look, Mr. Kurfürst Hedewig is right there."
"No! I will never admit that Giani is the Elector! "Wagner said angrily.
"My family and I are only loyal to Emmanuel!"
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